S.C. Ports Authority set TEU record in 2017

The South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA) logged a 9 percent increase in container volume in 2017 with a record-setting 2.2 million 20-foot equivalent container units (TEUs).

The port's total container volume in 2017 surpassed the previous record of 2 million TEUs set in 2016. Last month, the port moved 182,884 TEUs, up 11.2 percent over December 2016 and the highest December in SCPA's history, authority officials said in a press release.

"Global container trade growth was the strongest it has been since 2010, mirroring surprising strength in the global economy," said SCPA President and Chief Executive Officer Jim Newsome. "We expect to see continued strength, albeit slightly more modest, into 2018 with growth in the emerging market economies as a key factor in sustaining this positive outlook."

Also last year, the authority marked progress on several key projects:• Construction of the Leatherman Terminal continued, representing major growth capacity for the Port's container business when Phase One opens in 2020.• Groundbreaking was celebrated at Inland Port Dillon, which will open in April, and a new headquarters building, scheduled to open in December;• The Wando Terminal Wharf strengthening project advanced and is slated for completion in spring with the delivery of two new 155-foot ship-to-shore cranes; and• The project to deepen the Charleston Harbor to 52 feet reached several milestones in 2017, having been named one of six "new starts" and receiving $17.5 million in construction funding in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Fiscal-Year 2017 Work Plan.